In the second leg of the Elite League final at Poole, the Bees defended a 12 point advantage but ran out victors on the night by 50 points to 40 to take the 2010 Elite League title.
Poole had all season long been the run away league leaders and as Sky Sports quoted on numerous occasions tonight, on August 12th the Bees were second from bottom of the league. The run of form from then had built the 12 point advantage in the first leg but all season the Poole Pirates had won on their home shale by at least 10 points or more, so the task facing the Bees was considerable. That was even more so as the Bees elected to use Rider Replacement to cover the injured Edward Kennett.
Poole manager Neil Middleditch stated that he wanted his team to claw back the points as quickly as possible and after 4 heats they had pulled the gap down to 6 points, aided by a fall and subsequent exclusion for Chris Harris who was at the back in his first ride.
Heat 5 saw the Bees claw back 2 points by getting a 4-2 heat win, but what followed in heat 6 set the tone for the Bees fighting spirit. On the first corner Poole's Chris Holder used all of the available grass on the inside to get under Chris Harris (but kept his back wheel on the track) and took Chris's front wheel in the process. What followed was a horrific crash where fellow Bee Lewis Bridger literally rode over Chris.
Lewis got to his feet after a few minutes on the track but the sight of the ambulance driving onto the track as Harris stayed prone was a worrying sight. However speedway riders and Coventry captains are made of stern stuff, for not only did Chris thankfully get to his feet but he sprinted back into the pits past amazed fans and team manager. If ever a sight was to provide a lift for riders and supporters alike then it was that, but the Bees inspirational captain was to go one better.
What followed in the re-run was a special race between Harris and Holder with the lead exchanging on what felt like each lap, before Harris got the run to the line to take the win.
A Poole 5-1 in heat 7 pulled the meeting back towards the Pirates and heat 8 again saw the Bees claw back a couple of points as they just refused to give in to the home side.
Heat 9 saw Chris Harris line up at the tapes, and he was leading by example despite being sore from the earlier crash as he yet again produced a stunning ride as he chased down Poole's Pedersen before getting the better run to the finish line to take the win.
That ride appeared to turn the meeting as the Bees tails were up and the Pirates for the first time seemed to start to be deflated, sondering what they had to do in order to get the points back with the races running out.
The heat 9 4-2 to the Bees was followed by a 5-1 advantage to them in heat 10 as Chris Harris led the way whilst star of the night was Pawlicki at reserve who fought his way into second place and the match scores were level at 30 points each.
A drawn heat 11 meant that Poole needed some big scores in the last 4 races, and in heat 12 they got a 4-2 heat win to keep the meeting alive, but heat 13 saw Kasperzak and Harris line up at the tapes, and in a stunning first corner they took control and led the way home to a championship clinching 5-1 win.
The Bees supoprters, riders and staff all started to celebrate and it would have been easy to switch off with two heats to go but thats not the Bees style and two successive 5-1 heat wins not only gave the Bees the aggregate win but also an on the night victory too.
On accepting the trophy Chris Harris said it was a priviledge and honour to have led the side although he was now feeling sore, whilst team manager Rosco was somehow holding back the tears.
The Bees scorers on the night were:-